Chapter One - That Was Yesterday
Winter had come to the town of Canterlot. A fair layer of snow had settled upon the town, and houses and buildings throughout were decorated for the season. Canterlot High School’s decorations were light, due to it being a public institution, but even it had a few extra accoutrements appropriate for the time of year, giving it some holiday warmth within its hallways and corridors.
To Sunset Shimmer, however, it felt as though she may as well be stuck in the frozen north back in Equestria. From where she sat in the school’s library, her arms drawn tight across her chest and her legs drawn as close to her body as she could manage, she’d never felt this cold and alone. At least, not since her arrival in this world.
“Did you see the new Anon-A-Miss post?”
“Yeah, how’d they get that picture of Pixel…?”
It took everything Sunset had not to turn in the direction of the other students’ voices, and she quietly waited for their footsteps to fade away as they left her. She sighed softly with the sad realization that the one refuge she had left in the school, the bed of books that Twilight Sparkle had slept in her first night, was now exposed. Her head hung low in sorrow and she softly wondered to herself, “What am I going to do?”
“Sunset Shimmer? Is something wrong?”
She looked up to find a familiar green-eyed face and smiled. “Nothing, Miss Cheerilee. Why would anything be wrong? It’s the most wonderful time of the year, isn’t it?” The smile faded into a terrible frown, and she turned away and admitted, “Sorry. That sounded horribly bitter, didn’t it?”
“It did.” The young student-teacher/librarian took a seat beside her. “But it sounds like you need to talk about it. If it helps, I’m not exactly looking forward to the holidays either.” At Sunset’s glance, she explained, “Don’t take this the wrong way, even the most devoted of us teachers don’t want to be in school all the time. I actually do enjoy this time of year, even if certain things come up to make it, well, interesting.”
“Yeah, interesting.” Sunset turned even glummer than before and added, “That’s one word for it.”
Cheerilee winced. “Sorry, I didn’t…” She quickly changed the subject and noted, “You know, I keep on meaning to get this pile of books back to their shelves. Never quite understood why they were arranged like this, however. It’s a neat pile, almost like a nice bench or…”
“It’s a bed.” Sunset laid a hand upon the ‘pillow’ and explained, “This is where Twilight slept her first night here. It would’ve been both nights if Rarity hadn’t taken her in.”
“Oh.” The young teacher sighed and admitted, “You know, that first day with her here, I almost yelled at her. I couldn’t understand how a girl her age couldn’t operate a computer. And then, well, Principal Celestia explained things and…” She held up her hands and remarked, “I suppose someone with hooves wouldn’t see much sense in a keyboard. Unless it had really big buttons.”
That merited a small chuckle from Sunset. “It took me months to get used to using them. I nearly wept with joy the first time I used a touchscreen.” She looked to Cheerilee and asked, “I guess the rest of the faculty is in on my little secret?”
The young teacher shook her head. “Just me and Granny Smith, apparently, and I don’t know what I did to merit it. But it’s probably just as well Ms. Harshwhinny or Cranky Doodle don’t know. They probably wouldn’t believe it.” She gave a hopeful smile and asked, “Do you miss it?”
A nod. “So much.” Sunset looked to Cheerilee and asked, “You said you weren’t looking forward to the holidays. Don’t you want to spend time with your family?”
“I do, but…” The older woman shook her head. “It’s not hard to visit them. My parents live in the city, after all. But I go there, and inevitably my sister’s going to show up and…” She sighed. “Sorry, you don’t need to hear about my family problems.”
“No, it’s okay.” A sad smile crossed her lips as Sunset admitted, “At least your problems are easier to deal with than mine.”
Cheerilee raised a hand briefly, and then set it back down at her side, fully aware of how it would look if an educator was shown physically touching a student in any way. She felt on thin ice as it was with her own boyfriend, despite both having graduated and being of legal age. “I don’t know if this helps you feel any better, Sunset Shimmer, but all of this with Anon-A-Miss? I know you aren’t behind it.”
A mirthless laugh escaped Sunset’s lips. “Thanks, but we’ve both been around the block enough to know that doesn’t do me a lot of good. You can’t put an end to what they’re doing any more than you can stop the snow.”
“No, but it doesn’t hurt to know you’re not alone, right?”
Cheerilee got back to her feet and went on to her duties, Sunset left where she sat to consider. Months ago, she’d had talks like that with all of her friends, and they’d felt great. They opened up to her, and in turn, she’d opened up to them. It felt like she’d moved forward, and despite the rest of the school hating her, she could get through it. Now? Now it felt like she didn’t have a friend left in this world.
But she did have one who wasn’t.
She reached down to her backpack and pulled out her message journal, then opened it to a blank page and readied a pen. “Dear Twilight,” she wrote, “I hope the Summer Sun Celebration’s gone down okay back in Equestria. I wish I could say things are going alright here. As good as the week started, it’s only gone downhill from there.”
-
Indeed, the week had started well for Sunset, despite her dampened mood. It was the last week of school before Winter Break, and Christmas was literally right around the corner, due that Saturday. Sunset never had reason to celebrate it, despite its resemblance to Hearth’s Warming. It was part of another religion from an entirely different world, after all, and she had better things to worry about than some warped celebration of a child’s birth. Since the Fall Formal, however, she’d come to see it in a better light and acknowledge the similarities to it and her own native winter holiday – the reasons behind the celebration were different, of course, but the trappings were very much the same.
That, of course, brought with it other anxieties. As she explained to Applejack that Monday morning – helped in no small part by the farmgirl having moved her locker to the one immediately to the left of her own – she’d been alone for some time on the winter holidays, in more ways than one. And this one looked to be little different. She wasn’t alone in spirit now, of course, but the fact remained that she’d be all alone in her apartment, a tiny little tree in her living room and no presents under it.
Naturally, of course, that had to change, and Sunset swiftly found herself shanghaied into her first real slumber party. She’d stayed over with each of the girls, of course, but not all of them together, and they seemed dead set upon making up for lost time. That Monday night, the six stayed at Pinkie Pie’s place…
-
“And there you are, darling.” Rarity looked up from her work with approval, Applejack’s nails having been painted a vibrant red. “Now don’t touch anything until they dry.”
Applejack examined her nails and shook her head softly. “Still don’t get the appeal ‘a stuff like this.”
“Well, I don’t mind looking nice sometimes.” Fluttershy smiled as she gently brushed Rainbow Dash’s hair, the athlete looking anxious as she indulged her friend. “Now sit still, Rainbow Dash, I’m almost done.”
Her stomach filled with pizza, Sunset was a hair’s breadth away from dozing off from her perch upon Pinkie’s bed, the party girl in question seated at the foot and still scarfing down what was left. “Thanks girls, I needed this. This is good.”
“Hey, no sweat.” Freed from Fluttershy’s attentions, Rainbow Dash leaned back and declared, “You’re one of us now, and it’s great having the band back together.”
“With another addition ta bo –” A twanging ringtone chimed, and Applejack rolled her eyes. “Goldurn it, that’s mah phone. Can someone get that for me?” Sunset obliged and put the smartphone on speaker, and the farmgirl continued, “Whoever this is, you just interrupted a real heartwarmin’ moment.”
:“Hey big sis. Granny wanted me ta call an’ make sure you’re doin’ alright.”:
“Course ah’m alright! All mah friends’re right here with me!”
“Yeah, Rarity’s just torturing her with nail polish!”
Sunset playfully batted at Rainbow with a pillow, and the girls shared a laugh as Applejack rolled her eyes at their antics. “Listen Apple Bloom, you tell Granny Smith she’s worryin’ too much. Ah’m fine an’ so’re all mah friends. You, her ‘n Big Mac get some shut-eye, alright?”
:“Alright. Have a good night, Piggly Wiggly.”:
Applejack’s face turned beet red as the call ended, the girls looking at her with a mix of surprise and confusion. Sunset was somewhere in the middle as she asked, “Where did that come from?”
Her friends looking at her like hungry wolves eager for scraps of meat, Applejack sighed. “Well, might as well tip mah hat t’ the elephant.” She drew her legs in and explained, “When ah was little, real little, ah’d follow Granny Smith ‘round when she did chores. Ah ‘specially loved it when she fed the pigs, ‘n once, ah snuck inta th’ pigpen an’ played round in the mud with ‘em. Fer hours. Granny started callin’ me that afterwards and th’ whole family knows ‘bout it.” Her head sunk low as she added, “Along with a few’a the neighbors. Small miracle she never brought it up when…”
“When I was staying with you?” Sunset gave her friend a sympathetic smile. “Hey, don’t worry about it. You’re not the only one with a slightly embarrassing nickname.”
“Yeah, ah know, Shims.” Applejack grinned for emphasis, the other girls laughing softly. “Still, AB likes ‘ta use it whenever she thinks ah’ve gotten too big fer mah britches. Anyway, no big deal.”
-
“I already wrote to you about that first night. It was amazing. We were exhausted the next morning, no surprise, but the fun was worth a few less hours of sleep. Besides, finals were done and we had little more than busy work before the holidays. In retrospect, though, the next morning is where things started going sour.”
-
The next morning, the six very tired girls entered CHS to find more than a few of their fellow students sniggering at the sight of Applejack, the reason becoming clear as Apple Bloom rushed up, smartphone in hand to show a MyStable post revealing the nickname and its origins.
“Up for three hours, and sixty-nine likes?” Applejack examined the phone and asked, “Who’s this ‘Anon-A-Miss’?”
“Aside from not being particularly clever with their wordplay?” Rarity offered rhetorically.
“Ah don’t know! Her profile jus’ got put up this mornin’, right before the first post went up, and she copied it ta’ the CHS group page!” Her gaze turned to the fiery-haired girl beside her sibling as she amended, “But ah got a good idea where t’start lookin’.”
“Apple Bloom! Ah will not have you makin’ baseless accusations ‘bout mah friends!”
“But the colors on Anon-A-Miss’ profile page’re the same as Sunset Shimmer’s –!”
“That’s a coincidence, an’…” Applejack noticed one of the other students watching and locked eyes with him. “You lookin’ at somethin’, fella?”
The tall boy grinned. “Nothing… Piggly Wiggly.”
He and a few other students shared snickers among themselves, the odd oinking sound sprinkled in for good measure, only for Applejack to roll her eyes. “Typical. Give folks a chance at a cheap shot’n they’ll take it.” She handed her younger sister back her phone and told her, “You get on to class and don’t pay this no mind, Apple Bloom. Ah ain’t worried ‘bout this, neither should you be.”
The younger apple scampered off as Rarity checked her phone to confirm the posting. “I applaud your sensibility, Applejack, but we’re still left with the quandary of how this happened.”
“Don’t matter. Ah go pokin’ mah nose inta this, it’ll only give this coward more fuel fer their fire. Ah ain’t givin’ ‘em the satisfaction. Now come on, y’all, we got classes too.” She noticed the proud smile on Sunset’s face and asked, “What’s that for?”
“Just glad I can appreciate this.”
-
That following evening, the next sleepover was held at Rarity’s home, the girls joining her and her family for a nice dinner before settling down in her house’s living room and taking places wherever they could. Sunset did her best to keep a polite distance from Sweetie Belle, but found her attention going to Applejack. “You doing okay?”
The farmgirl shrugged from her seat in an easy chair. “Gettin’ oinked at ain’t a big deal. Folks’ll get bored with it eventually.”
“Well, you’ll let us know if you need any help, right?”
Applejack smiled. “Sunset, this right here? That’s helpin’ plenty.”
“Popcorn’s ready!” A massive tub of popcorn balanced upon her head, Pinkie set it down on the floor before the gathered girls as Rarity passed out bowls. “So, what’re we watching?”
“Only one of the most magnificent Christmas movies ever produced, darlings.”
“Sweet! Can’t wait to…!” Rainbow Dash’s exuberance tapered off as Rarity produced a beaten-up plastic VHS case from a cabinet adjacent to the television and opened it. “That doesn’t look like ‘Die Hard’ to me, Rarity.”
“That’s because it isn’t. That film takes place at Christmas; this one is a proper Christmas story.” The fashionista beamed and explained, “Sweetie Belle and I watch it together every year before Christmas, and now, we can share the tradition with all of you.”
“Oh?” She was handed the cover, and Fluttershy smiled. “Oh! ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’! This is a great movie! I love the songs in it.”
“Yeah, they’re…” Sweetie Belle quickly remembered the company they had, and her enthusiasm went down as she noted, “They’re okay.”
Rainbow Dash shrugged as their host put the tape into the waiting VCR. “Okay, fine, I’ll let that slide. Everyone knows the Muppets are awesome. But why not watch it on Blu-Ray?”
“Because the Blu-Ray and DVD editions from recent years all use the theatrical cut of the film, while the VHS edition restores a beautiful song that was cut from the film proper.” Rarity smiled sheepishly and admitted, “You’ll have to forgive me, darlings, but I’m something of a purist.”
The athlete shrugged as she took a portion of popcorn. “Fine. As long as it isn’t as annoying as ‘Let It Go’, I’ll manage.”
Sweetie Belle looked at Rainbow Dash in shock. “I like that song!”
“Yeah, and that’s fine, but I got a little sick of it after I heard it for the umpteenth time.” A gag, and she amended, “It took me ages to get it out of my head.” She turned back to Sunset from her perch on the floor and asked, “So, you seen this movie?”
“No, but I’ve read the book. Is it animated?”
Pinkie giggled and scooped some popcorn into Sunset’s bowl. “No silly! It’s live action! People with puppets!”
“And it’s a marvelously faithful adaptation of Dickens’ original novel. You’ll love it, dear.” Bowl of popcorn in one hand and the VCR remote in the other, Rarity sat down on the couch between her sister and her friend and fast-forwarded to the start of the film. “Now then, quiet everyone! The movie’s starting!”
For the next ninety minutes or so, the girls sat and watched as the film unfolded, Sunset finding herself becoming more and more caught up in it. She knew the story, of course, but the presentation took her by surprise, the jokes entertaining her and the songs touching her. As the credits rolled and finished, she finished off her third bowl of popcorn and remarked, “Okay, you’re right, that was a good movie. One complaint, though.” More than one head turned to face her in shock, and she simply explained, “No sign of Scrooge’s sister, Fran. Fred’s there, and that’s good, but he didn’t come out of nowhere.”
“What difference does that make?”
Sunset ignored Sweetie Belle’s tone as she explained, “Fran was one of the best things about Scrooge’s early life, before he went into business. One of the big reasons Scrooge pushed his nephew aside was because Fred resembled his mother so much, physically and in terms of personality. Every time he saw his nephew, he was reminded of the sister he lost.” She noticed the other girls’ surprised expressions, and she shrugged. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about stuff like this.”
Applejack flashed a sympathetic smile. “Somehow, that ain’t surprisin’.”
“No, unfortunately.” Rarity uncomfortably cleared her throat to change the subject. “Anyway, now is perhaps a good time to retire, hmm? Come along, Sweetie Belle, time for bed.”
“But it’s not even eight! Can’t I hang out a little more?”
“We can afford to lose more beauty sleep than you, dear, now go on.”
Sweetie Belle dejectedly did as she was told and trooped her way up to her bedroom, the others following her until they all entered Rarity’s room. The fashionista closed her door behind them and looked to Sunset curiously. “A lot of time to think about this?”
Sunset sighed and admitted, “Not much to do around an empty school on winter break beyond sneak into the library and read. I must’ve read that book a dozen times over the last couple years. The message never really hit me until, well, you know.”
“Well now you’re not gonna be all lonely like old Scrooge!” Pinkie beamed and gave Sunset a tight, warm hug, both girls laughing happily. “Now come on, let’s get with the holiday spirit and make with the singing!”
Sunset’s smile turned nervous. “I’ll pass on that.”
The party girl shrugged. “Suit yourself!” She jumped onto Rarity’s bed in her stocking feet and started belting out tunes, everyone save Sunset joining in at one point or another. Sunset herself took out her phone and smiled, recording her friends’ a cappella performances with a smile. She didn’t need to do this to remember what was going on, but it didn’t hurt to have a memory aid.
“Stage dive!”
She looked up just in time to see Pinkie jump from the bed and crash into her, both crashing through a surprisingly thin closet door. Both groaned as the party girl remarked, “I guess that works better with a stage. Sorry Sunset.”
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” The other girls rushed to them as a feathered boa fell over her face. Rarity helped her to stand, and Sunset plucked the garment off her before looking into the closet to find many more articles of clothing inside. “What is all this, Rarity?”
She managed a nervous laugh. “This? Oh, it’s…” The girl sighed and explained, “My Closet of Shame. It’s where I store away all of the outfits I make or buy that end up turning out terrible. Even one with exquisite taste such as myself has off days, and tastes and opinions do change with time.” She frowned and noted, “I think I may be about due to clean it out.”
“Well before you do, how about we try ‘em on?” Pinkie had produced a dapper-looking deep gray top hat. “These’ll make for some really great selfies!”
Rarity hesitated, only to be met by a very eager set of puppy dog eyes from her pink friend. “Well, alright then. It’s all in good fun, yes?”
-
“I wrote you about that second night too. No less fantastic than the first, and I stand by what I wrote. I hadn’t felt that good around the holiday season since…well, since I lost my parents. Which just made what happened the next day even worse.”
-
A genuine spring was in her step as Sunset made her way down the hall from her first class of the day, the warm fuzzies from the previous evening still filling her with the spirit of the season. A few students still glared at her as she went on her way, but right now, she didn’t care, especially as she rounded a corner and caught sight of her friends. “Hey girls. What’s…?” It was then that she noticed the foul expressions upon each of their faces. Even Pinkie Pie was scowling. “What’s wrong?”
Applejack gave her a critical glare. “Sunset, have you lost your phone lately?”
Sunset suddenly turned nervous; Applejack almost never tried that hard to tone down her traditional twang. Nonetheless, she produced her phone. “No, it’s right here. Why?”
Applejack produced her own phone and showed her the screen. “Then explain this!”
Front and center on the screen was Anon-A-Miss’ MyStable page, a new post having gone up that morning containing a number of photos and a video, all of them from the slumber party at Rarity’s. Sunset scanned over them in shock. They’d barely been up an hour, and they’d gotten fifty-six comments and three times as many likes. “Wha…?! How did she get our pictures?!”
“They aren’t our pictures.” Applejack lowered her phone as Rainbow Dash practically growled, “They’re yours! You took all of those pictures and recorded that video!”
“But I’ve had my phone on me since last night!” Sunset frantically looked among them as she pleaded, “She couldn’t have…!”
“How’d she find out ‘bout mah nickname?” Applejack growled.
“Coincidence! You said it yourself…!”
“And the photos?! And the video?! That you recorded?!”
Sunset suddenly felt like a knife had gone into her heart as she realized what she was implying. “Applejack, you’re not…”
“She is, and so am I!” Rainbow Dash jumped in and pointed an accusing finger into her chest. “You’re Anon-A-Miss! How long have you been planning this, huh? Since the Fall Formal?!”
“No, I…!” Sunset looked to Rarity and Fluttershy, who didn’t look angry so much as sad and disappointed. “Please, I…!”
“How could you do this?” Rarity looked to be barely maintaining her composure as she asked, “After everything that’s happened these last few months?”
“I didn’t! I couldn’t…!”
“DON’T YOU LIE TO US!” Sunset jumped back in shock as Pinkie screamed into her face. “YOU DIDN’T WANT TO BE OUR FRIEND! YOU WERE JUST LYING IN WAIT, SAVING UP TO STRIKE BACK AND GO BACK TO THE BIG DUMB MEANIE-PANTS BULLY YOU WERE BEFORE!!”
“No! I’m not that person anymore! You know that!”
“Do we?” Fluttershy looked to be just a hair’s breadth away from bursting into tears. “We gave you a second chance. We thought you’d changed.”
“I have!”
“Really? Cozyin’ up to folks, makin’ all friendly like, then stabbin’ ‘em in the back?” Applejack’s expression turned into an angry glare as she and the girls turned and walked away, Rainbow Dash putting a comforting arm around Fluttershy’s shoulders. “Granny Smith was right. Once an apple goes rotten, it ain’t never gonna be good again. Say whatever ya like, Sunset Shimmer. We ain’t gonna be fooled a third time.”
Sunset watched them go, suddenly feeling like she was trapped in a nightmare, frantically hoping that she’d wake up at Rarity’s house and the world would go back to the way it was before. But she was wide awake, and she knew it. This wasn’t a nightmare; it was real life. She sank to her knees, students passing by going one way or another, and she mournfully sighed, “Not again…”
-
“I couldn’t let it end like that, Twilight. You wouldn’t have. But I didn’t have too many options. Going to Principal Celestia wasn’t one of them. She couldn’t do any more about Anon-A-Miss’ posts than I could, and considering the photos and videos of the girls were from the same phone she gave me, well, she’d be just as likely to punish me as anyone. I had to handle this on my own. Sadly, I didn’t have a good place to start.”
-
“Did you see those pictures Anon-A-Miss posted?” Snips chortled gleefully as he and his best friend went down the hall. “Weirdest costumes ever!”
“Yeah, and those pics of Rainbow Dash’s physics paper?” Snails laughed. “Even I did better on mine than –!”
The two boys yelped in surprise as they were pulled into that one darkened hallway where the lights never seemed to work right. They collected themselves and then turned in surprise to find the girl who formerly employed them as her lackeys. “Sunset Shimmer?”
She quickly shushed them. “Boys, keep it down!” Both nodded, and she calmed down. “Listen, I need your help.”
Both immediately pleaded, “We aren’t Anon-A-Miss! Promise!”
Sunset sighed. “I know that. Anon-A-Miss isn’t a boy, I can tell just from the way she types.” The two sighed in relief as she continued, “All I want to know is if the two of you have any idea who she might be. I’m not saying that you’re helping her or…”
“What’s this? Back with your old minions so quickly?”
Sunset took a deep breath and turned to find herself looking into the familiar violet eyes of one of her schoolmates. “Do you mind, Trixie? We’re having a private conversation here.”
“About anything in particular?” The pale blue girl strode forward with a smirk. “Certain MyStable posts, perhaps?”
“I had nothing…”
“Oh spare me!” Trixie dramatically pointed a finger into Sunset’s chest and declared, “The Great and Powerful Trixie wasn’t fooled by your crocodile tears the night of the Fall Formal, nor is she fooled by your lies now! The only thing that surprises her is the fact that it took those idiot girls so long to wake up to the sort of person you really are!” An edge came into her voice as she added, “We all remember what you did that night, Sunset Satan. And we all know that you got off too lightly for all the trouble you caused.”
“I’m not Anon-A-Miss. I’m not that person anymore.”
“Really? Then why don’t your friends believe you?” Trixie gasped. “Oh wait, they aren’t your friends, are they? Everyone knows the real reason they’ve been so close to you; it’s because Princess Twilight asked them.”
“That’s not…”
“Please. Who in their right mind would want to be friends with a monster like you?”
Trixie sauntered off with a smug expression on her face and left Sunset behind with her two former minions, who looked to her with some anxiety. After an uncomfortable silence, Snails asked, “So, you think maybe Trixie…?”
“No.” Sunset walked off and left the two boys alone as she quietly added, “It doesn’t matter much anyway.”
-
“Trixie’s words stung, especially after what happened with the girls earlier that day. It doesn’t help that I feel like she might have had a point. Would the girls have reached out to me, if you hadn’t asked them to? Would they have befriended me after everything I did? Was I some kind of replacement for you? I don’t know. It was a question I never asked. It certainly wasn’t one I wanted to ask. But that stuck with me the rest of the day, and things went by in a haze until…”
-
Sunset’s footsteps were heavy as she made her way through the halls, her hands clutching the straps to her backpack and her winter boots making dull thunks with each step on the floor. She finally stopped at her locker and slipped the bag off, then fiddled with the lock to open it. A light sound caught her attention, like that of someone clearing her throat, and she turned to find the girls standing beside her. “Girls, please, I’m not…”
“Yes, you’re not.” Rarity approached, placed a hand upon the sleeve to her jacket, and pulled hard upon it. “You’re not worthy of my handiwork!”
The leather all but disintegrated at the fashionista’s attack, bits flying away in every direction as Sunset recoiled in surprise. She barely had time to protest as a hot drink was splashed in her face, and cried out in shock as Pinkie screamed, “THAT ENOUGH HOT COCOA FOR YA?!”
“Stop, please!”
“Twilight should’ve dragged your demon butt back into Equestria! You deserved to get burned alive!”
“I can’t believe I shared my bed with a monster like you, you… you monster!”
“Please! You know me! That isn’t who I am anymore!”
“Really?” Applejack pointed to Sunset’s right hand and called, “Then explain that!”
Sunset held it up in shock to find that her normal, amber-colored five-fingered hand had been replaced with an all-too-familiar red one with four long talons. “No…” The red continued to spread up her arm, and a flash of black and opal light moved up her other arm like wildfire, reducing it to a similar state and destroying the other sleeve to her jacket. “No! This isn’t real! It can’t be!”
“Can’t it?”
She spun about to find herself looking into the Crystal Mirror, more flashes of magical light going up her legs. Her winter boots turned back into the boots she’d worn in her transformed state, her black jeans and long-sleeved shirt replaced with the fire-themed shoulder-less dress. But it was the face of her reflection that frightened her most, a wicked expression upon it that she’d seen far too often since that fateful night.
“Face it, Sunset! You sealed your fate long ago! Whatever you do, whatever you say, that sweet façade you’ve put on isn’t the real you!” The reflection’s face flashed, and it instantly became that of the monster she’d become. “THIS IS!”
“No!” But Sunset could feel the magic working its way through her, her skin searing and her ears and teeth and eyes twisting and warping. “Please, no! Princess Celestia! Twilight! Help!”
“May as well cry for mommy and daddy! Oh wait, they can’t hear you – they’re dead!” The ground rumbled beneath her feet, and the very earth seemed to split open as demonic wings burst free from her back and she lost her footing, scrambling to hold on and not fall into the crevasse forming beneath her. “And we can’t go where they went, oh no! There’s a better place for us in the next world, and it’s nice and warm!”
“NO!” Her grip failed her, and gravity took hold as she screamed, “NOOO!”
-
“NO!” Sunset screamed and sat up in bed in terror, a cold sweat on her brow. She took several deep breaths, looked at her hands in the dim light, and felt along her back. No claws, no wings, no red skin. She looked to the nightstand at her right just as the alarm went off, giving her a little more illumination.
She drew her legs in close and hugged them tight, buried her head in her knees and sobbed, “No…”
-
“A nightmare. All it took was three months and Anon-A-Miss for me to finally have a nightmare.” Sunset paused in her writing, unsure where to go next. But there wasn’t anywhere else to go, it seemed. “Anyway, that’s the whole story. No one here will believe that I’m not Anon-A-Miss, not even my friends. Well, former friends, I guess. I wish I knew what to do, and I really wish that you were here. You succeeded where I failed, Twilight. I don’t suppose you’ve got any ideas?”
The lunch bell rang, and Sunset closed her message journal before slipping it into her backpack and going on her way. She strode out of the library and made her way through the halls, silently hoping that Twilight would respond and that she’d have some way to fix…
“Augh!” Sunset fell to the ground, her journal and other assorted contents of her bag spilling out. Whether she tripped or was pushed, she couldn’t tell. She scrambled to retrieve the book, only for it to get kicked away by other students, their voices rising and becoming all too clear.
“Secret stealer.”
“Monster.”
“She-Demon.”
“Way to go, thief.”
“You’re getting off too easy.”
“Why don’t you just die?!”
She didn’t see their faces as the voices and the calls continued, but she didn’t have to, as she recognized every one. Cherry Crash, Cloudy Kicks, Golden Hazel, Sweet Leaf, Fido, and so many others, all saying the same thing that had been floating in her head since yesterday. Since the girls had pushed her away.
That she wasn’t wanted anymore.
Her journal forgotten, she grabbed her bag, jumped to her feet and ran. Her eyes were shut tight as memory guided her to the one place she knew she could be alone, where no one would follow her.
So caught up in her mad rush for escape, she didn’t notice the startled cries of Cheerilee or Cranky Doodle as she darted past them into the teacher’s lounge, and straight for the bridge portal.
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Off to a promising start. Can't wait to see how this story unfolds.
6700824 Thanks. As previously reported, I've finished writing the thing, and will be posting the remaining three chapters each Friday until Christmas, so you won't have a long wait.
Jesus. Not another one of these stories...
6705764 Yeah, sorry, but I had to take my own swing at it. Don't worry, it won't take very long.
6705777 Looking forward to said swing. Disregard the black alicorn OC.
6705880 Another chunk of the swing is due on Friday. May it knock things out of the park.
6705764 Oversaturation?
6705764
When readers are unsatisfied with a published story, the writer in them wishes to explore solutions to the "problem".
The comic special had a few issues, so there are a lot of these stories. Heh.
6706810 I'm proud to say that I at least timed this right.
6707420 Exactly!
can't wait for the next chapter
6718904 You'll have a very short wait.
this sums up my feeling about the school pretty nicely.
8659983
...yeah. It's somewhat more justified in this version than it was in the original comics, but yeah, that sums things up pretty well.
Poor Sunset...
I'll be honest, this is probably one of the only Anon-a-Miss stories on this site that I think is any good. Way too many of the others just go in a masochistic direction and pile torment after torment on Sunset, turn so many of the other students into idiots/sociopaths/what-have-you, and then preach about betrayal or hypocrisy or whatever. They're just a boring, mean-spirited slog. >_< The original comic was garbage, but there is a thing as going too far. I've read this story in full, and I think it actually feels a hell of a lot more "real" and rings truer than the other so-called "realistic" fics about Sunset's unhappy holiday experience.
Plus, this story has the Muppets referenced, along with my personal favorite Christmas movie, so that's another reason I love it.
8662793
I've long been of the opinion that anyone who doesn't enjoy the Muppets has no soul. Who can't relate to Kermit?
Admittedly, I look at a lot of the other Anon-A-Miss stories released (before and since) and I think that they've gone far too far. A part of me wonders if I went too far at points, though given the comments one guy's made, I think I went just far enough regarding the abuse Sunset received (and even toned down some of the excesses on the parts of other students, specifically some stuff with Trixie). Exploring the aftereffects, however, was something I should have done with this story...and thankfully was able to address with the follow-up.
LOOOOOOL!
9200634
I admit, it's low-hanging fruit, but hey, that's comedy.
Hey, this is a pretty solid start! It's early, sure, but this is looking to perhaps be the best thing of yours I've read so far.
We meet again
I thought it was all the staff members.
Yikes, didn’t know teachers had lives.
That’s debatable.
Wait what?
It was at that moment, that she should’ve known she f*cked.
Just hit him with a uppercut. He’ll be quiet.
Ok, sunset kinda f*cked herself over with that.
Just throw a few punches.
Why not get rid of it?
Why did she take pictures in the first place?
Technically, that was y’all choice.
I’m sorry what? By the way she types?
That is the worst name ever. Sunset Satan?
I mean, she’s probably not wrong.
I may have to go back to the movie, but I don’t even think she asked.
Three months of what?
Now we gotta fight, line up. Who going first?
10817314
Honestly, it's been a while, so I can't remember who has the full details with Sunset and who doesn't at this point beyond Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, Granny Smith and Cheerilee.
Everyone has lives of some sort.
As much as you seem to be in favor of violence, let me point out two things - one, it's frowned upon by authorities, and two, it doesn't work. I know both from personal experience.
Rarity might've kept them either because she thought she could salvage something from them, or because of sentimental value, or because of simple laziness.
So they could have something silly to laugh at?
You can determine a lot about people based on how they type, or the words they use, or how they spell particular words.
At least one fan has referred to her by that name. It was mentioned on TVTropes, at least.
Three months of general peace and quiet.
Save the fisticuffs please. The students giving Sunset grief there will get their comeuppance.